Owing No One Is A Credit Risk

June 04, 1985|By Mike Royko.

Ray Shlemon recently received a rather flattering letter from the Visa credit card people. Sure, it was typed by a computer. But it said nice things about him.

``We think you will be interested in having the best possible credit card in the world: The Citibank Preferred Visa Card. We are offering this special card with a credit line of $5,000 to a very select group of people. People like you, who handle credit very responsibly and find its unique advantages most useful.``

Ray liked that--especially the line about ``a very select group of people.``

Actually, it`s a fair description of Ray. In his line of work--he`s an airbrush artist at this paper--he has a national reputation.

He`s also the man who invented the device that lets police quickly make composite drawings of criminal suspects by flipping plastic sheets that have different facial features.

By coincidence, the Visa letter arrived when Ray, who is 65, was thinking of finally getting a credit card.

He has never used such cards before, but he is scheduled to conduct a series of seminars in different parts of the country, and his accountant advised him to save his travel receipts as business expenses.

So Ray filled out the Visa form and mailed it in.

A couple of weeks later, his wife, Edith, got a phone call from a credit agency that checks out Visa applicants.

``I don`t believe your husband completed the form,`` the woman said.

``What did he leave out?`` Edith asked.

``It says you own your own home. Who is the mortgage with?``

``There is no mortgage,`` Edith said. ``We paid for the house 20 years ago.``

``It says you own three cars. Who are they financed with?``

``Nobody. We paid cash.``

A few more questions established that Ray and his wife don`t owe anybody money.

The credit-check woman sounded confused. And suspicious. Everybody these days owes something.

But not Ray. He doesn`t believe in buying things unless he can slap cash on the counter. Since he has a good job and a successful invention, he can afford to pay for most of the things he wants or needs.

``I guess it was growing up in the Depression that did it,`` he says. ``I saw my father get knocked around pretty bad. So I`ve always taken the approach that if I can`t afford to have it, I shouldn`t have it.``

A few weeks ago, Ray got another letter from Visa. This one was less flattering. It said:

``Your application has been carefully reviewed, and we regret that we are unable to approve it at this time.``

The reason: ``An insufficient number of satisfactory references in your creditor report.``

In other words, Ray didn`t owe anybody anything. He had never owed anybody anything.

Therefore, he cannot be trusted.

Ray was furious. After a lifetime of not being a deadbeat, always paying his bills, he was told he couldn`t be trusted with the kind of card that many of America`s deadbeats have in their wallet?

He called Visa and raised hell. Somebody said they would review his application.

A couple of weeks later he got another letter. It said: ``As you requested, your application and credit bureau report have been carefully reviewed. Unfortunately, we are unable to approve it at this time.``

``What bugs me`` Ray says, ``is that they approached me in the first place. They send me the letter saying that I`m the kind of person they want.

``Then when I accept their invitation and fill out their form, they stick it to me.``

After I talked to Ray, I called a spokesman for Citibank Visa and asked how they could turn down so solid a citizen.

``I know it sounds kind of screwy, but that`s the way it works,`` the spokesman said. ``If a person doesn`t have any credit history, that`s what usually happens.``

Maybe this helps explain why so many banks in this country are in such sweaty shape.

``I`m not sure what I`m going to do now,`` Ray says. ``Maybe I`ll have to go get in debt so that they will trust me.``

Either that, or tell them you`re a South American general. They`ll probably send you a fast billion.